KiwiRail is investigating a steering fault aboard one of its Interislander ferries that left passengers stranded on the vessel for more than six hours last Friday.
The trouble began during the Kaiārahi's 3.30pm crossing of Cook Strait bound for Picton, when the crew detected a problem with the ship's steering. The vessel turned back to Wellington as a precaution, docking at 10.05pm. Passengers did not collect their bags until 10.40pm, more than half an hour after the ship had berthed.
A North Island man who was on board, and who asked not to be named, said passengers were not told the Kaiārahi would be heading back to Wellington until 8pm, and that the mood had been "fairly calm" before that announcement.
"From there, while mostly calm, there was a lot of tension and stress from being unsure what was happening. There was a lot of confusion of who to contact and what would be happening," he said.
He was particularly critical of how little information was shared with those on board. "There was very little communication on board and the general feeling was that it would've been preferable to have regular updates than the few we had, which often gave us no extra information. A lot of people booked for new sailings with Bluebridge while on board."
Once the Kaiārahi docked, the confusion did not immediately lift. A long queue formed at the enquiries desk, and while the passenger acknowledged staff were dealing with a "hugely challenging situation", he said those in the terminal were unable to provide the answers people needed. "The staff in the terminal were incredibly polite but also didn't have the information to pass on," he said.
By the time he reached the terminal, he had already received a text message rebooking him on a Saturday morning sailing. The event he had been planning to attend was no longer reachable, and he remained uncertain about his financial position. "[We] are unsure if we will be refunded," he said.
Wellington harbourmaster Grant Nalder spoke to RNZ about the technical nature of the fault, clarifying that the crew had retained "full control of the wheel" throughout. He described it as a "technical problem with the steering" that came to light during routine checks as the Kaiārahi neared Tory Channel.
"As they were approaching Tory Channel and did their regular checks, they found something was behaving oddly with the steering," Nalder said. "They didn't go through Tory Channel, just went out into Cook Strait to test what it was. After doing that, they decided they were going to return to Wellington."
Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy confirmed that technical staff based in Wellington would be investigating the problem. He said the issue only became apparent through standard pre-channel procedures, and that the decision to turn back was made on safety grounds rather than risk navigating the Sounds with an unresolved fault.
"The issue became apparent as part of standard procedures prior to entering Tory Channel and the return to Wellington was decided on as a safety precaution rather than sailing through the Sounds," Roy said. "The appropriate authorities have been notified, and we will work with our passengers and freight customers to reschedule them."
